Greenfield man, grandfather start Mosquito Joe franchise

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 05-18-2023 10:58 AM

GREENFIELD — There are an estimated 110 trillion mosquitoes on the planet at any given time, outnumbering humans nearly 16,000 to one. And there are roughly 850 tick species around the world, with about 90 of them found in the United States.

While tackling those figures might be too tall an order, a man and his grandfather have embarked on a new business venture to help people at least keep these pests at bay.

Thomas Glazier and John Walker own the Greenfield-Pittsfield territory of Mosquito Joe, a subsidiary of Neighborly, which bills itself as the world’s largest home services company. Other Neighborly subsidiaries include Molly Maid and Mr. Rooter.

“We have all-natural and botanical products, and synthetic,” Glazier said before working on a Beech Street yard on Monday morning. “Everything that we use is, obviously, approved by the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] ... so everything that we use is safe for pets and human beings. Our synthetic stuff, a lot of what’s in it is basically the same thing you’re going to find in your flea and tick shampoo for your pets.”

Glazier, 33, explained he was working for Lynn Hatch, of Mosquito Joe of Amherst-Charlton, when he learned no one owned the Greenfield-Pittsfield territory, which spans from Orange to the New York state line, down to Pittsfield and over to Holyoke. He pitched the idea to his grandfather, John Walker, a retired buyer for C&S Wholesale Grocers, and the two signed a deal after meeting with Neighborly representatives at a company reunion in Nashville last year. Their office is in Walker’s Plum Tree Lane house.

“He loves working outside,” Walker, 79, said of Glazier on Monday morning, as his grandson revved up a roughly 60-pound backpack sprayer. “All I do is finance it. He does all the work. I’m too old to carry something like that.”

Glazier said the business started the first week of April and will go until a break in November. There is no work in the winter.

“We’re just prepping for the next season,” he noted.

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On Monday, Glazier applied a barrier spray treatment to combat ticks, mosquitoes, fleas and gnats. He does not spray anything that is blooming, in order to protect pollinators crucial to the ecosystem.

“None of these are flowering bushes,” Walker said as Glazier worked on the lawn. “He won’t spray flowering bushes.”

Glazier mentioned this is a brutal tick season due to the recent mild winter.

“The eggs and larvae are surviving to come out in the spring, because the ground’s not freezing,” he said, adding that mosquitoes will live in shade “because … when it’s hot out, the mosquito’s not going to come out. That’s why, usually, they come out in the evening, to have a snack.”

Glazier also offers stinging-insect removal.

More information is available at greenfield-pittsfield.mosquitojoe.com or by sending an email to greenfield-pittsfield@mosquitojoe.com or greenfield-pittsfield.owner@mosquitojoe.com. The company also maintains a Facebook page.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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